More Pleasant Correspondence

The last post took a look at an example of some of the unpleasant mail sent to the AL. Fortunately, for every email like that, I get several pointing to fun or interesting things. Here’s a selection that I liked, but weren’t quite big enough for a full blog post.

The current ALA president managed to get a post published in some CNN blog about education I’d never heard of before. But that doesn’t matter, because everyone has heard of CNN. Good publicity! It sure beats American Libraries for exposure, since no one reads American Libraries except its editors.

It’s also refreshing and surprising to hear an ALA president say that “libraries matter more than ever.” I would never have expected that.

Another kind reader sent me this link to a post on a blog that collects “letters of note” and publishes them. It’s a fun letter, so take a look. I’m not going anywhere.

The particular letter (and a later press release) was from Maurice Sendak’s editor about librarians who had painted little diapers onto the naked baby in Sendak’s In the Night Kitchen. I guess that big naked baby was too close to kiddie porn for some librarians, because nothing screams “prurient interest” more that a naked cartoon baby flying around a kitchen.

This was in 1972, and my how times have changed. Instead of painting diapers on naked babies, librarians would be far more likely to order naked baby books just so they could act indignant and surprised when some patrons complained about them.

I don’t know which is better, but I do know 1972 was a pretty bad year in a number of ways, so you’ll get no nostalgia from me. After all, back then America was nearing the end of a long-running foreign war that had little public support, plus a recession and rising gas prices and…oh, never mind.

And speaking of librarian stereotypes (we were, right?), it turns out there’s a coffee called the Decaf Librarian’s Blend. I’ve never tried this, because drinking decaf coffee is like drinking a virgin daiquiri. What’s the point? The description is interesting, though.

The Librarian’s Blend is named for that person who always told you to keep quiet when you were studying. This blend is representative of the soul of the librarian: steady, reassuring, and always there with that slight edge of eccentricity. It has a bold base with a bit of sparkle. Here’s to good reading.

The “soul of the librarian” sounds cheesy, but the description isn’t. Nor is it ignorant or condescending or concerned with the fashion sense of a profession. The coffee seller’s mom is probably a librarian or something.

Unfortunately, at $22/pound, the Librarian’s Blend might be out of the price range of many librarians. Maybe the ALA can get them to offer a special discount to ALA members.

And then maybe the coffee company can make a real version of the coffee for librarians who need a little extra mental stimulation in the mornings. Keeping quiet while studying is important, but so is a kick of caffeine, or at least that’s what I recall from my college days. And it’s the only way to get through a meeting of librarians without falling asleep.

What?! Librarian’s don’t drink decaf? Talk about stereotyping. I have to drink decaf to keep me from screaming and flailing. Some folk are sensitive to bee stings, I am sensitive to caffeine. Thanks Spekkio for your support. :D